News Archive 2022

 Profile area "Sustainability & Biodiversity"

15. December 2022

We are happy to report that the university-wide presentation of the profile area "Sustainability & Biodiversity" as part of the "Research@Goethe" roundtable event on December 14, 2022 was very well received. A video recording of the one-hour event is available on the Mediasite (HRZ access is needed). Additional information can also be found on the RobustNature website.

SynergyFund Workshop

09. December 2022

About 35 scientists from different departments gathered for an interdisciplinary dialogue. In the first part of the workshop, the scientists presented their SynergyFund projects with the current results and plans. The presentations were met with great interest by the participants and resulted in an active, constructive exchange. In the second part, development possibilities of RobustNature were discussed, with several potential "sub-initiatives" being addressed. Here a fruitful discourse took place and significantly enriched the cooperation of the RobustNature consortium.

From Frankfurt to Saskatchewan: Joint research for the health of our planet

07. December 2022

Joint research connects: The commitment of individual scientists to sustainability, biodiversity and planetary health brought the Canadian University of Saskatchewan and Goethe University together years ago. Now, the two universities have agreed on a comprehensive international partnership. During the inaugural visit of a Canadian delegation from science and politics on Monday, December 4, the focus was on plans for sustainable cooperation.

RobustNature as a guest at the IME

30. November 2022

From November 2nd - November 4th, we attended the workshop "WildOMICs: Application of molecular biological methods in environmental monitoring“ discussing environmental DNA approaches in modern environmental monitoring at the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biologie and Applied Ecology (IME) at Schmallenberg, Germany. From our Department Evolutionary Ecology and Environmental Toxicology our head of the department, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Henner Hollert and two of our Ph.D. students, Markus Schmitz (RoadTox Project) and Florian Gigl (Resurrected Daphnia, Bad Waldsee Project) participated. Not only did we learn a lot about state-of-the-art application scenarios of genomic new approach methods in environmental biomonitoring, but also got exciting insights into current research performed at the Fraunhofer IME and the other participants' institutions, namely the University of Trier, University of Duisburg-Essen, the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) and the LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics/Senckenberg World of Biodiversity, Frankfurt am Main. Moreover, the Federal Environmental Specimen Bank was introduced to all participants and future research collaborations involving the specimen Bank were intensively discussed with promising outcomes. Besides the overarching project TrendDNA, already involving the specimen Bank, many more collaborative research ideas, mutually considering each participant's expertise and building fruitful scientific synergisms were discussed. We're excited and looking forward to future meetings and further shaping the ideas we took home from this workshop into promising research proposals.

Joint GDCh/SETAC-GLB Meeting

22. November 2022

The joint meeting of the GDCh Division of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology and the German-speaking branch of SETAC Europe in Emden was a great success. Together with Stefan Hahn (Chair GDCh FG UÖ) it was a great honour to lead through the anniversary programme of the societies. We are looking forward to the joint meeting in Switzerland in Basel/Muttenz in 2023.

SETAC SAC Face2Face Meeting

15. November 2022

Last week, the SETAC Europe Student Advisory Council (SAC) had its annual face-to-face meeting here at the Goethe University, chaired by the current SAC Vice Chair Markus Schmitz. The most important topic on the agenda was of course the planning of the upcoming Young Environmental Scientists (YES) Meeting 2023 in Landau end of August next year. After long-lasting Covid restrictions and the last Annual Meeting in May in Copenhagen, it was fantastic to actually meet in real life again; Not only to work together most efficiently but also to grow as a group and last but not least of course to explore Frankfurt City after work. It was a lot of fun to host the meeting here at E3T and we can speak for all of our guests as well that this weekend was very special. Keep posted for coming updates towards the YES2023 Meeting and block August 28th to September 1st, 2023 in your calendar!

8th TBG Retreat

08. November 2022

Two weeks ago, almost 80 scientists particpated at the 8th TBG retreat. It was nice to brainstorm, debate and simply feel the vibe, passion and energy that was put into the exciting work at TBG! We are very much looking forward for future events.

Congratulations Saskia!

07. November 2022

We are happy to announce that our publication on "Endocrine disrupting chemicals entering European rivers: Occurrence and adverse mixture effects in treated wastewater" has been published. Congratulations Saskia. Get open access here

Welcome Kamila!

10. October 2022

Today, we want to welcome our new team member Kamila. Kamila, who has a Master's degree in Environmental Protection from the Wrocław University in Poland, has successfully obtained a five month DBU fellowship, which will take place here at E3T. During her research stay she will investigate the toxicity of environmental samples to daphnids (acute and chronic) and algae. We wish you a pleasant and fruitful stay.

Participation at EUSAAT congress 2022

10. October 2022

Dr. Andreas Schiwy and Inska Reichstein participated at the EUSAAT congress 2022 in Linz, Austria on alternatives to animal testing. At the meeting, they were able to present their research on the animal component-free conduction of OECD test guidelines and the implementation of metabolism processes in the Fish Embryo Acute Toxicity Test.

E³T and WANA Strategy Meeting

13. September 2022

Today, WANA (Department of Effect-Directed Analysis, UFZ, Prof. Dr. Werner Brack) and E3T successfully held a two-day strategy meeting in Kirchvers on harmonizing bioassay- and chemical analysis in environmental research. The met up ended very successfully with a lot of new ideas and perspectives with respect to more future fruitfull cooperations in the future.

New Fraunhofer IME Department

15. August 2022

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Henner Hollert leads the new Fraunhofer IME department in Schmallenberg and Frankfurt. As W3 University Professor at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, he leads the Department Evolutionary Ecology and Environmental Toxicology (E3T) and now also takes over the leadership of the newly founded department. He has many years of expertise as President of the Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry Europe - German Language Branch (SETAC GLB), member of the Effect-based Methods Working Group of the European Commission's Chemicals Working Group, the Biological Methods for Water Quality Assessment/Gentoxicity Working Group of the Wasserchemische Gesellschaft, and head of the Bioanalytical tools Working Group of the NORMAN network. Professor Hollert's work focuses on the assessment and monitoring of environmental media. With his team, he develops new methods to assess water, sediment and process quality. In the new Fraunhofer department, he will focus on the acquisition of public and industrial research projects as well as on the implementation of non-GLP studies. Of particular importance are the topics of biodiversity loss and chemical pollution as well as Green Toxicology as a solution approach to these problems. As spokesperson for the profile area of sustainability and biodiversity, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Henner Hollert bundles the research of the Goethe University with the transfer via non-university research institutions into the regulatory substance assessment (in the field of applied ecology), into the economy and into the interested public.

Congratulations Alex!

11. August 2022

Congratulations to Aliaksandra Shuliakevich, who successfully defended her PhD at E3T (Ecotoxicological profiling of sediments from the Wurm River (North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) unter different weather and wastewater treatment conditions). Alex investigated the effects of dry and wet season on the ecotoxicological impact of sediments to aquatic organisms. You may read on her research in the following publications:

  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157922
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.117921
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150887

RobustNature meets Planetary Futures

3. August 2022

The RobustNature consortium and invited guest speakers met at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften of Goethe University in Bad Homburg. More than 50 participants discussed the planetary future involving social and natural sciences for transformative change.

Teaching continues after 2 years of Corona restrictions

22. July 2022

7 weeks of multiple stressors, evolutionary ecology and environmental chemistry: The module "Öko-8" was succesfully finished after theory, seminar and a practical course improving the students skills in hypothesis-oriented research, scientific writing and poster preparation. We are happy to recieve very positive evaluation from the students involved:

"The module "Evolutionary Ecology and Environmental Analysis" was a lot of fun and you get a comprehensive insight into the work of the working group! The supervision and especially the motivation of the supervisors remained particularly positive in my memory. You always had the feeling that they really wanted to work on something with the students. "

"Everything was right in the internship and it was a very nice and instructive time. The field is highly topical, interdisciplinary and future-oriented. A comprehensive picture was conveyed both theoretically and practically, which aroused lasting interest in me. A highlight was the 3-day excursion to Leipzig. Thanks to the working group for the student-oriented teaching and commitment!

EfectroH2O project meeeting

15. July 2022

Within the EfectroH2O project, the first non-virtual partner meeting  between the RWTH Aachen, the IITM and the Goethe University Frankfurt took place. With very fruitful discussions and exchanges of ideas we are already looking forward to the next possibility of an meeting in presence.

IGSTC meeting

14. July 2022

This week, the INDO GERMAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CENTRE (IGSTC) meeting took place in Frankfurt. The meeting was organized by IGSTC and BMBF and was attended by all projects funded by the 2+2 program. We would like to thank IGSTC and BMBF for the good opportunity to expand the cooperation between India and Germany. In this context, we are very happy to welcome Prof. Indumathi from IITM who is part of the EfectroH2O project and who has been our cooperation partner for many years.

New publication on passive dosing

13. July 2022

Congrats to Anne for her paper on he application of passice dosing to asses the toxicity of PAHs to Raphiocelis subcapitata. Please find a 50 day free access link below.

Scholarship funding received for PhD project

11. July 2022

For her PhD project on conducting animal-free in vitro tests for endocrine assessment, Inska Reichstein receives a three-year funding of the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU).

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E³T research highlighted in UniReport

24. June 2022

Tracking down environmental toxins: Henner Hollert researches toxic influences on humans, the environment and biodiversity & Andreas Schiwy researches ways to replace animal testing and animal components in toxicological research.

RobustNature being preseted at SETAC 2022

23. May 2022

The work in RobustNature was presented at the annual SETAC Europe meeting taking place from 15th to 19th May 2022 in Copenhagen. SETAC provides the largest platform to discuss the study, analysis, and solutions of environmental problems in Europe. The meeting allowed great scientific exchange and broadened the RobustNature network. Find our poster presentation on the RobustNature concept and first results from SynergyFund projects here.

Kirchvers retreat

15. May 2022

Informal brainstorming, mingling, walks in nature, and karaoke: Two-days of group retreat in Kirchvers resulted in a few empty beer bottles, refreshed ideas, and increased communication among peers and lab members at different career stages in the Hollert lab!

Honorary Degree from Örebro University

07. May 2022

Henner received a honorary doctor's degree from Örebro University in Sweden. He was awarded with the degree for his long standing research in close cooperation with partners from Man-Technology-Environment research centre (MTM), especially Prof. Magnus Engwall. For the cheerful award ceremony and fruitful collaboration meetings at MTM, Henner, Sarah and Fabian visited Örebro last week.

Ring study on DR CALUX assay started

06. May 2022

While already having a vast array on different CALUX systems at our disposal (ER, AR, PFAS, GR, PR, Nrf2), we are now incorporating the DR CALUX assay for the detection of dioxin-like compounds in complex environmental samples into our assay portfolio. This week Simone and Marc successfully completed the DR training at the BioDetection Systems headquarters in Amsterdam to work on the inter-laboratory DR CALUX ring study (ISO guideline 24295).

RobustNature seminar series

18. April 2022

The RobustNature seminar series continues with excellent speakers giving 40 min oral presentations about their research in the context of RobustNature followed by an open discussion. The presentations will focus on challenges of nature-society systems considering chemical pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change. The seminar series is connected to the institute colloquium series of the institute of Ecology, Diversity and Evolution.

Funding opportunities through IGSTC programs

09. April 2022

Today Mr. Rajachandran Madhan, director of the Indo-German Science & Technology Centre (IGSTC), presented funding opportunities for Indian and German scientists at E³T. The IGSTC is a joint initiative to catalyse Indo-German strategic R&D partnerships. Please find more information on the IGSTC website.

Kontrisol Project meeting at TUHH

01. April 2022

Carolin Bertold presents the status of the ecotoxicological experiments for nanofiltration / reverse osmosis processes (NF/RO) in drinking water treatment. For more information visit our project website:

https://kontrisol.de/

Celebrating new achievements

24. March 2022

Celebrating our new member Martha Kofer, who joined to support the RobustNature team and the permanent position for Sabrina Schiwy at the Goethe University. Congratulations!

Goethe University environmental sciences have a strong voice within SETAC GLB

18. March 2022

Last week, the German Language Branch e.V. of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry confirmed its recently elected council members. From our department, Prof. Henner Hollert and Ph. D. candidate Markus Schmitz were elected as the current president and secretary, respectively, continuing a long-standing tradition of SETAC engagement within our department.

Extreme weather events facilitate distribution of genotoxic compounds

12. March 2022

Due to climate change, extreme weather events will occur more and more frequently. Especially during heavy rain events, sediments are remobilised, and previously particle-bound pollutants are re-released. The present study shows that the remobilisation of pollutants leads to an increased concentration of genotoxic compounds and is associated with increased genotoxic potential.

RobustNature: Plea for World Chemicals Council

08. March 2022

50 renowned scientists from Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia support the call of the initiative of the International Panel on Chemical Pollution (IPCP) and several countries to establish a "World Chemicals Council". Modeled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity, the science-policy body would serve as a global body to assess the consequences of chemical ...

NC3R - CRACK IT Challenge 36: Phase 2 awarded

28. February 2022

We are proud to annouce that our project NC3R - CRACK IT 36 has been awarded £600k to move on to phase 2: Establishing in vitro OECD test guidelines assays (TG487 and TG455) free from animal-derived products.

FCI: Funding for flood research

17. February 2022

We are proud to annouce that our flood research on the recent flood in Germany (occurance rate of 10,000 years) is generously supported with 65,000 € by the Fonds of the Chemical Industry (FCI).

Sustainable bioeconomy: Development of environmentally friendly bio-shampoo and pesticide technologies

15. February 2022

Even during the development of new organic products, it is possible to assess whether there are risks for the subsequent release of toxic substances. This is shown by a proof-of-concept study led by Goethe University Frankfurt and RWTH Aachen University. The study is a first step toward an ecotoxicologically sound bioeconomy to significantly reduce environmental impacts.

Contact

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Henner Hollert

Goethe University Frankfurt
Biologicum, Campus Riedberg
Max-von-Laue-Str. 13
60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Room: 3.319
Phone: +49 (0)69 798 42171
Fax: +49 (0)69 798 42161
Email: hollert(at)bio(dot)uni-frankfurt(dot)de

Former Affiliation:
http://www.bio5.rwth-aachen.de